Coloradans and Our Shared Environment in Times of Challenge and Change

When left outside in below-freezing weather, a wet wash of ink on top of a thick paper will freeze and dry, preserving an ice structure specific to the time and environment in which it was made. The quilt-like appearance not only evokes the spatial patterns in Molotch’s snowpack maps but also represents the division, tangible and figurative, around water.

This group exhibition tells the story of how Coloradans are experiencing interrelated challenges of fire, drought, and water and air quality in their communities. It features collaborative work by Colorado Art Science Environment (CASE) fellows through the CU Boulder Office for Outreach and Engagement. The artwork reflects a dialogue between the perspectives of the artists, scientists and the artists’ communities. The narrative depicted in the artwork moves beyond debates about climate change to confront, amplify, and make visible the connection all Coloradans have to our state’s natural landscape, and, through our connection to place, to one another. It is only through building this basis for connection and relationship that Coloradans can move forward in collectively addressing pressing climate change issues.

The exhibition artwork explores tensions between the visible and invisible aspects of climate change in landscapes, from the insidious encroachment of beetle kill under bark to the shifting shape of groundwater flows beneath the earth’s surface, to the complexities of air quality. Specific to Summit County, artist Hannah Taylor, through her partnership with CU Boulder snow scientist Noah Molotch, explores what warming winters look like in a community tethered to snow. In Taylor’s work, reconstructed maps, frozen ink washes, and temporary installations strive to understand Dillon Reservoir’s role in Colorado’s waterways while reflecting the living details that accumulate into an understanding of place.

Left: Hannah Taylor, Frozen Ink Quilt